


A Familiar Ruse

by FleetofShippyShips



Series: Prompted Harry Potter Works [55]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetofShippyShips/pseuds/FleetofShippyShips
Summary: Prompt: “Nah, let’s can these beetles first, then use the Portkey.”





	A Familiar Ruse

“Nah, let’s can these beetles first, then use the Portkey.”

The room shook and several more jars fell from the shelves and shattered. Ginny quickly stepped away from one of the smashed jars, the contents of which were eating away the concrete floor, as well as several of the beetles.

“Damn, pass me that spare jar,” she said, holding out a hand towards Tonks, pushing down her irritation to at least make all this worth it. “If we wait any longer they’ll bring the walls down on us.”

Tonks moved closer, sidestepping the spilled contents of many jars and flinching as the door was bombarded again. The warding was not going to last much longer against such powerful concussive spells. Ginny took the jar from her outstretched hand and carefully started levitating beetles into it.

“I can’t believe you brought me with you on an undercover mission and didn’t even tell me,” she muttered.

Tonks snorted as she swiftly moved out of the way of another shattering jar. “After how hard it is getting you to actually go on a date these days? Like hell I was going to tell you the only time you were free didn’t work for me.”

Ginny scoffed, but screwed the lid onto the jar and held it up. “Is that enough?”

Tonks took it from her and eyed the contents. “Should be. I don’t really know how they’re going to analyse them, I just know I needed to collect them.”

“Nice to see how excellent communication is within the Auror department,” Ginny muttered, reaching over into Tonks’ pocket and pulling out the Portkey she’d told her about after their ‘accidental’ discovery of the hidden storeroom.

Grabbing Tonks’ wrist, she couldn’t help but scoff again. “Coming back here for a snog?” she said sceptically. “Did you really think that wouldn’t blow your cover? Who the hell would want to snog in such a disgusting room when there was a perfectly lovely bathroom near our table?”

“The beetles are secure, active the Portkey when ready, love,” Tonks said, after carefully lashing the jar to her arm with conjured straps.

“Oh, do not call me ‘ _love_ ’ right now,” Ginny said darkly, before promptly activating the Portkey and cutting off Tonks’ reply.

When they landed inside the Auror department, Ginny scowled around darkly. “Did everyone else know you were using a date as cover for your mission?” she asked, enjoying the way the few present people in the main office wouldn’t look her in the eye. With the amount of times she’d found herself roped into missions because Tonks liked to multi-task dates with work, they were all wise enough now to know not to piss her off.

“No,” Tonks said in a completely unconvincing tone. She unstrapped the jar from her arm. It was immediately taken from her by a short and terrified looking man who promptly disappeared through the doors at one end of the room.

Ginny had a feeling that was one of the people she’d accidentally hexed, trying to hit Tonks of course, after the last time she was dragged on a mission. As she looked around the room, she saw Harry and Ron had materialised. They were leaning against a desk in a far corner, watching with those irritating expressions of theirs. The ones they always got when she was pissed at anyone other than them.

“Activate the floo for me,” she demanded, prodding Tonks’ upper arm. All the internal floo points were locked to employees only. It always made this part of being dragged into an Auror mission the worst.

“Ah, just a minute?” Tonks said, making an entirely pointless placating gesture. “I just need to submit a—”

“ _Now_ , Nymphadora!” Ginny hissed, her irritation only rising now that they were out of danger. “I want to go home.”

“Right, right,” Tonks muttered, her hair changing rapidly from a playful pink to a dark brown.

Well, at least she knew she was in trouble, Ginny supposed, sending a dark glare towards Ron and Harry. She was just in time to see money pass between them. Probably betting she’d call her by her actual name. Arseholes. She’d get them back later.

When the floo roared to life, she didn’t hesitate before sending herself home. Within moments of stepping into her living room, Tonks was tumbling out of the floo behind her.

“I know, I know,” she said quickly. “I’m terrible. I really am. But we’ve been missing each other for weeks, and we knew they’d got a shipment today, so when you said tonight was the only time you could—”

Tonks cut herself off after one look from Ginny, and the power of that made Ginny feel a little better.

“There are better ways to deal with that than taking me along on a mission without telling me I’m walking into a dangerous situation,” she said firmly. “I mean, honestly, Tonks, you’re playing with my life!”

“Well, you did go through training, so it’s not like you—”

“Oh, don’t start that again,” Ginny groaned. “Being an Auror didn’t suit me. I need to be up there in the sky, not chained to a desk until I’m thrown into a life or death situation. Just because I can handle myself doesn’t make it alright that you keep pulling this shit.”

Tonks’ hair darkened to a pitch black. Ginny looked away and refused to feel bad for that.

“Dammit, you could at least tell me when you’re pulling this crap. Give me the option of getting involved or sitting it out. It’s not like I don’t miss you too. I know that these months leading into the season are crazy, and you always get stuck with the night shifts, or I’m away at training camps. But the solution isn’t dragging me on missions with you! I’m going to murder Harry for always letting you get away with this!”

With a wince, Tonks made an apologetic gesture. “He knows as well as I do that you’re even better than me when it comes to things going sideways.”

They were going to go in circles, just like the last time, and the time before.

“You weren’t supposed to get involved, just a reason for me to be there. They scrutinise people eating alone at a place like that,” Tonks added. “I was going to slip away to the bathroom and then pop downstairs grab some beetles, and pop right back. Things didn’t go as planned.”

Ginny’s ire bloomed into heat across her face as she realised what Tonks meant.

“Oh, so it’s my fault then? Because I wanted to sneak off for a snog with my wife? I facilitated you getting me involved by forcing you to change your plan? All because I missed you too and would have rather stayed home instead of going out to dinner anyway?”

The expression Tonks made was telling, and Ginny stomped off towards the bedroom.

The adrenaline from being trapped in that room under bombardment was fading, but she still felt wired. Excited. Dammit, she did enjoy the rush and danger of it all, and Tonks knew that as well as she did. There was reason she was known for pulling the riskiest moves in Quidditch.

“Damn you,” she muttered. “You can’t keep doing this. You need to find a new partner, you can’t just keep dragging me along. I’m not an Auror, I’m your wife!”

“I would have activated your emergency Portkey if you were in any real danger,” Tonks said, and Ginny turned to see her leaning on the doorway, her hair still black. Ginny’s wedding ring felt heavier for the reminder of all the various charms and protective magic Tonks had worked into it. “I’d never put you in a situation where I thought you might actually get hurt. They only attacked because they realised the room was sealed from the inside. They would have bought us wandering off for a snog if I hadn’t accidentally triggered the wards and locked us in there.”

Ginny rubbed at her forehead and sat heavily on the end of the bed. “Go and make your report,” she said tiredly. “I need to get up early to train.”

Tonks didn’t move, but continued to stare at her from the doorway.

“Are you going to pretend like you didn’t have some fun tonight?”

“Go!” Ginny snapped, falling onto her back and staring at the ceiling.

Damn Tonks for knowing her so well. But the principle of the matter stood. She should at least tell her that she was on a mission during a date, and not just hope that everything went as planned so Ginny would never find out.

There was a distinct lack of footsteps heading away. It sent a thrill through her even though it shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t let Tonks get away with this every time, and she really should stop engaging in what could be interpreted as a reward afterwards.

“That’s not leaving,” she muttered.

“You’re going to burn through the last of the adrenaline on your own then? Or would you like a hand?”

Ginny propped herself up on her elbows to see Tonks’ hair had turned short and curly and pink again.

“Or two?” Tonks added, pushing off the doorframe and walking into the room. “Or a mouth?”

Still feeling so wired, that sent an immediate flood or heat south and her heart rate just picked right back up again.

“I’m still angry with you,” she said, further weakening her own position.

Tonks nodded as she moved towards the bed. “Oh, I know. That only makes it better, doesn’t it?”

Ginny scowled and got up, grabbing Tonks and pushing her onto the bed before joining her. “Damn it, that’s the last time you pull that stunt, understand?”

Tonks nodded, her hands already sliding under Ginny’s dress. They both knew it wouldn’t be, and they both knew Ginny could be firmer about it, angrier about it. Ginny had made Harry fear for his life the only time he’d dared to pull the same stunt with her. It wasn’t the same with Tonks and she weakened her own position on it by making that so obvious. After the indignity of being lied to, she did enjoy the rush, the danger.

Maybe she could have enjoyed being an Auror if she had been partnered with Tonks, but spouses were never put together on official cases. And in any case, she’d miss flying too much.

“You owe me another uninterrupted dinner out, by the way,” Ginny said, as she tugged at Tonks’ hair while it changed colours again. Ravenclaw blue, she always did like that more than the pink. “Add it to the tally.”

That number just grew and grew, but she supposed they’d make a dent in it someday.

She just had to try very very hard not to think about how boring an uninterrupted dinner out would be.

**Author's Note:**

> Yikes, I'm so unhappy with this, it's got so many holes and is so unrealistic, but I've been sitting on it for far too long without actually fixing it, so here it is. Hopefully you could suspend your disbelief for long enough that it wasn't terrible haha
> 
> Prompted by @beelsebutt.


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